MOVIE REVIEW: 'Trip to Italy' is a visit worth making

You’re tooling along the west coast of Italy in a Mini convertible with “Jagged Little Pill” blaring on the sound system. What could be better?

How about doing it with Brit TV icons Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as traveling companions? I’ve done it. You can too, and all it’ll cost you is the price of a ticket to “The Trip to Italy,” the second course in the duo’s smorgasbord of culinary and comedic delights.

I laughed until I was full. Just like last time, when “The Trip” indulged in the sights and bites of England’s Lake District.

That one drew its inspiration from the friendship between Wordsworth and Coleridge. This one grooves on the Shelley- Byron bromance. Great poets all, but nowhere as funny as Coogan and Brydon. Like Hope and Crosby, they have vitriolic chemistry to burn, as they give as good as they get with their subtle comedic putdowns. But what keeps you truly entertained is their improvised rat-a-tat banter, which inevitably leads to dueling impersonations of Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine or Christopher (“Come, come, Mr. Bond”) Lee, to name just a few.

They’ll leave you in tears, even when their mimicry is a tad off.

They’re just as apt at eliciting tears of sadness, as retracing the steps of Shelley and Byron fills our heroes (again moonlighting as travel writers for the London Observer) with melancholy over the prospects of aging, mortality and leaving a lasting legacy. And like last time, there’s trouble back at home. For Brydon, it’s a neglectful wife consumed by caring for their 3-year-old daugher. And for Coogan, a 16-year-old son frustrated by being caught awkwardly in the twilight zone of burgeoning manhood.

True, their characters and situations are somewhat fictionalized, but their feelings and friendship never come across as anything but real. They bicker and compete for attention, but deep down they love each other. That, no doubt, is the root of their chemistry. But talent is the lifeblood of their comedy.

Director Michael Winterbottom may entice us with five-course gourmet meals and historic hotel rooms formerly inhabited by Bogie and Garbo, but nothing is as appetizing as watching Coogan and Brydon serving up their rolicking improvisational skills.

Most of the repartee concerns movies. Not surprising since both are huge fans of the medium. What’s impressive is the breadth and depth of their knowledge. Often, when the discussion turns to a film like “The Dark Knight Rises,” the impersonations roll off their tongues, from a “yodeling” Michael Caine to the indecipherable mumblings of Christian Bale and Tom Hardy. My favorite moment, though, arrives when Brydon, feeling guilty over a one-night stand with a beautiful deck hand (Rosie Fellner), converses with Coogan’s personal assistant (Claire Keelan) about which possesses the better ending: the unrequited love of “Roman Holiday,” or the happily ever after of “Notting Hill.” It might not sound deep, but in the context of the movie, it’s incredibly poignant.

That’s the beauty of these “Trip” flicks. You’re almost always feeling. And many times, what moves you most is the scenery. If you thought “The Trip” was gorgeous, wait until you see Italy the way Brydon and Coogan see it. Spectacular can’t even begin to describe it. From Genoa, to Florence, to Rome and Naples, the food and the locations are so mouthwatering you want to book passage immediately. Yet, it’s the least scenic site, Pompeii, that lingers longest.

Maybe it’s all those ancient corpses encased in lava, dramatically symbolizing how fast life can change. Or maybe it’s just Brydon’s skills as a ventriloquist, hilariously giving voice to a Vesuvian victim laid out in a glass display case. Either way, it’s hard to shake.

Ditto for the great one-liners, like: “Where do you stand on Michael Buble?” Brydon asks.